Return
by Aliceson Cullen
Summary: When all hope seems lost a new superpowered Teen appears who seems to have the means of restoring Terra.
1. Promises

1. Promises

"Guys we've been searching for over a year to bring her back, and we still have nothing. I don't think there's anything we can do." Raven said

"No, there is a way, there just has to be. We can't give up." Beast Boy argued with no intention of giving in.

"Beast Boy be reasonable now, we've tried our best. Either there's no possible way to reverse it, or it's far too difficult." Robin coolly ordered hoping to stop the fight that was just beginning.

"Well then our best isn't good enough." He persisted, "We promised her we'd bring her back. How can you just agree to break a promise and give up? How can you just give up on a friend, a Titan just like that? When Raven became that portal thingy and we thought she was gone did we give up? No, we tried until we succeeded! How could you give up on Terra?"

"Your missing the point, we've tried everything, Cyborg's computer, the old library, even my books and we've found absolutely nothing, nothing at all."

"Dear friends she is one of us, why do we keep on insisting failure?" Starfire add, clearly taking Beast Boy's side.

"Look we've tried there's just nothing we can do, I'm sorry BB and Star." Cyborg said. Now the two of them were outnumbered.

"No, I refuse to accept it! I will find a way. I'll search until the day I bring her back. Terra can be brought back, I know she can! If you guys are unwilling to help then I guess I'll have to find away on my own!"

There was a short pause as Robin considered his options. "I guess we could try one more time, I mean what's it going to hurt? Well give it one more shot but, after that were through." Satisfied Beast boy left the room along with Starfire.

"Why did you tell him that, it's only going to hesitate his suffering?" Raven asked in defeat.

"Look, he wasn't ever going to give up." Robin answered

"He's just in denial; eventually he would have realized it's impossible."

"Did you really want to see him do nothing but lie in Terra's room for a week like when Terra betrayed us?"

"No."

"Well then, see I was looking out for Beast Boy, and besides, it's only one more try, its not that hard."

"Hmm, I guess you're right. What could it hurt?"

"Like Beast Boy said, we made a promise; we've got to keep it." Cyborg added


	2. Searching

2. Searching

"Ok today's a new day, here's what I'm going to need." Robin said planning the work he had cut out for him. "First, Raven I'm going to need your books, and Cyborg I'm going to need access to your computer. Star you search through stuff from Tameran, got it?"

"Yeah," They all replied. Quickly Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg rushed out of the room.

"Ok here are my books." She said returning with a heavy load of books pressed to her chest.

"And here's my computer password." He said handing him a small, folded piece of paper.

"I'm searching through my things from my home planet." Starfire called out from her room.

"Right, very good." Robin replied. Robin sat down and began searching through Raven's books. Hours went by and the books were providing no help. When Robin had finished searching them he was no closer than when he'd started. Starfire then joined him in the room.

"I am sorry my search has been a complete failure, I've found nothing."

"It's ok Star, you tried, and I don't expect anything more." Robin followed Star out of the room, and then he went to Cyborg's computer and began looking. A couple of times he thought he had found something, but every time it led to nothing. He decided that continuing here was a lost cause so he decided the last place he'd look would be the old library.

For hours he checked book by book, finally he decided it was a lost cause; there was no bringing her back. Robin took the R-cycle to the place where Terra was frozen in rock. He knelt down on the cool rocks and stared into the girls face. He slammed his fist down on the base of her statue.

"I'm sorry Terra, I've tried there's just nothing we can do, we failed, I failed, I broke my promise."

"Excuse me, but I believe I could be of service." Said a soft strange voice.


	3. Erika

3. Erika

"Umm, hello, did you here me?"

"Look you don't even know what the problem is, so why do you think you can help." Robin said irritably, not turning around to face where the voice came from.

"I know what your problem is, don't you trust me?"

"No! I don't, and you don't know me, why should I?" Robin turned around, he saw a girl standing there. There was something very familiar about her, but he wasn't sure what it was.

"Your friend, she isn't lost forever… there is a way to bring her back…I know how, I can do it."

"How… how do you know that?"

"I know a lot about you Robin." Robin was terrified and confused. He didn't have the slightest idea who she was but she knew him… and Terra. She had to have been able to read his thoughts because she soon followed with, "I'm sorry, I'm Erika." She stopped for only a moment to gather her thoughts then she began again, "If you wish for me to help you… then I must meet your friends, I need to know every thing I can." Robin immediately stopped puzzling and became angry. She had crossed the line.

"I don't think so! The last person we welcomed freely was Ter-"

"I know… was Terra, but she betrayed you because she was actually a spy for Slade. Then she tried to annihilate you but failed so Slade took control of her and made her try again, but she broke free and destroyed him. That triggered a volcano big enough to destroy the city and Terra was the only one who could stop it, so she did but ended up turning her self to stone. So you began working on finding a cure, meanwhile Slade, who was luckily saved by Trigon, an inter-dimensional demon and Raven's father and helped him bring the end of the world through Raven in exchange for his life. Once Trigon had what he wanted he went back on his word, so Slade helped you find Raven and defeat Trigon. Once that was all said and done you went back to looking for a way to reverse the effect on Terra. Which brings us to today, I told you I already know." Erika was starting to lose her cool, she had been patient long enough, "Do you want my help or not!" she growled.

Robin wasn't sure if she could be trusted, but he had promised Beast Boy if they found anything they would try it, and what other leads did he have. So he agreed to take her to Titans Tower and give her what she needed, but he didn't realize what trouble Erika could really cause.


	4. Trust me Not!

4. Trust Me…Not

Robin and Erika rode from Terra's stone chamber to Titans Tower without speaking. Robin thought it would be best not to say any thing; he didn't want to trigger another outburst. She could cause him many problems if she was angry. Erika however, didn't want to press her luck. She wanted him to trust her, but Robin wasn't very willing. One wrong word and he'd tell her to take a flying leap. They continued on. Robin had visited Terra many times but he never recalled it taking this much time to get back. Robin glanced back at Erika. She looked so shy and timid sitting silently behind him, not like the obnoxiously tempered girl from the cave.

They entered Titans Tower unnoticed. Two people played video games in the living space of the tower. "I think it'd be best if you wait here while I get every one else; I want to introduce you to them all at once instead of separately. Do you understand?"

Erika looked up from her feet and returned Robin's gaze. "Yeah, I get it."

Robin left Erika alone in the doorway. She looked around. She'd never seen anything like it. She noticed the two people playing video games on the couch. One was half human, half robot, a cyborg. The other one was some sort of short, green alien with peticularly pointy ears. As Erika continued to look around the room many visions flooded to her head. They were of every thing experienced in this tower good and bad. She focused to clear them out of her mind, they couldn't know about her powers.

A few moments later Robin returned from the far-left hallway with the rest of the Titans. Once Robin stood directly in front of Erika he turned to her side and said, "This is Erika, the one I told you about."

"Oh no, not her." Raven muttered.

"Raven what's the problem? She's going to help us bring back Terra." Beast Boy said in confusion.

"Yeah right, I know her all to well; she's not going to help us."

"Why would Robin bring her here if she wasn't going to help? You're not the only one here with good judgment."

"Why won't you just believe me? Did it ever occur to you that I may know a Few things you don't?"

"If you weren't so secretive maybe I would!"

The room began to fill with noise. Raven and Beast Boy yelling back and forth, ready to tear each other's head off; the other Titans taking sides and helping the argument progress. Robin stood watching with a puzzled look. Erika once again looked up from the floor and stared at Robin. She lost control of her emotions, tears flooded to her eyes as she turned on her heals and headed to the door. When she reached the door she looked back at Robin, he still had the same look on his face. This time Robin met her eyes and realized Erika had enough. Erika looked away, opened the door, and slammed it behind her.

The loud bang of the door caused the fight to quickly end. The titans looked at the door then looked at Robin. Robin turned, disappointed, and walked towards his room. Raven headed toward her room very satisfied; everyone else returned to what they'd been doing before Erika had entered everyone except Beast Boy that is. He quickly slipped out the door hoping to locate the girl with the name of Erika.


	5. The Story

5. The Story

Beast Boy looked around outside the tower. At first he didn't see her, but a second glance around the edge of the island revealed she was still there.

Erika was sitting on one of the flat rocks close to the water, looking towards the city unaware of the Titan heading her way. "Why can't Raven forget the past, doesn't she realize that some people change?" Erika thought out loud. "I mean sure I did some bad things when I was younger, but I'm not like that anymore. I've learned my lesson. I want to be good not evil."

Beast Boy drew closer to the girl. He noticed her hair stood out even though it was black and the sky was dark. Her eyes seemed to practically glow in the dark. And even though she seemed so visible she blended perfectly with the shadows.

Erika's mind continued to wander though the mishaps of the day. First she practically blew her chances of Robin accepting her. Then Raven remembered who she was causing a huge argument. This wasn't how it was suppose to happen. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Umm… Hi ya?" Beast Boy asked more than said, as Erika turned around.

"What do you want? Want to tell me that this rock is better than I am? Well then here, have it. I won't touch it ever again!" The tears once again began to glisten down her face.

"No, that's not it."

"Oh, well then what is it?" She carefully wiped them away.

"I would like to invite you to stay with us. Since you're helping us with Terra and all."

"It's very clear I'm not welcome."

"Well I think you should be. Raven's got a problem with everybody, it's not just you."

"Actually it is."

"What do you mean? Will you tell me?"

"I don't really want to… but I will. If I can get your name."

"Uh, I'm Beast Boy."

"Right, Ok then Beast Boy, this is what happened.

"I'd been sneaking around the city, looking for Raven. She'd long since disappeared from the last attack. Now remember Beast Boy, I was an apprentice for an evil sorcerer. This was my job. Just like my current job is to help you with Terra. Finally I located her; she'd been hiding out in a cave, trying to lose my trail. When I got there, the item was still on her it wouldn't be easy to take. Any ways we had a huge battle. I won and escaped with the key to her mind. With this and my master's great power we would soon rule the world. However naturally Raven came after her portal. She destroyed my evil master and I was forced away. Raven's never forgiven me. And she doesn't plan to. To her I'm still the enemy, still evil. But I'm not, you believe me don't you?"

"I don't know." He puzzled through her story. Good and evil, Raven and Erika, it was all a bit confusing.

"But, but what about Terra. Once she was freed from Slade she wasn't evil anymore, was she. Aren't I the same way?"

Beast Boy was trapped. Erika was very manipulative. She was playing Beast Boy into the same situation she did Robin. It was wrong and she knew it but she needed his help to get in.

"You don't have to make a decision now wait a couple of days, I don't care. If by then you still don't trust me I'll leave without a word. Deal?"

"You've got a deal."

Erika hadn't noticed all the clouds clearing away. All the stars were completely visible. It looked amazing. "Wow, look the sky, it's beautiful. I've never seen anything like it." Erika said in a softer voice.

"Yeah, it is."

"Hey look a shooting star."

"A what?"

"A shooting star; if you hurry you can make a wish."

"Na, you saw it. You make a wish."

"How about together?"

"Sounds good."

Beast Boy and Erika sat on the rocks looking to the stars for sometime in to the night. Then Beast Boy showed Erika to where she'd be sleeping, in the living space.

"I'm sorry it's not much but I hope you like it."

"It's wonderful I couldn't ask for anything more."

"Goodnight Erika sleep well."

"Yeah you too."


	6. Friends and Enimies

6. Friends and Enemies

The sun glistened through the windows of Titans Tower. In the living space of the tower you could find Erika asleep on the floor. The sun shone brightly in the room and Erika began to wake. Her eyelids flickered at first, and then they opened all the way. Erika looked around the room, then out the window. The sun already shone bright and strong; the makings of a beautiful day.

"Wow, the sunrise is even better than night… hmm, what's this?" Erika said in reference to the pillow and blankets that hadn't been there when she'd fallen asleep. "I wonder who put these… Beast Boy." She finally decided.

Erika folded the blankets and placed them and the pillow on the couch. Quietly she walked towards the stairs leading to the rooftop. Quickly, trying not to wake anyone she climbed the stairs. Once she'd reached the roof she looked at the sky. It was a soft shade of pink and misty blue. As she continued to glance the horizon Erika noticed she wasn't alone. Robin stood facing towards the east side of the city. The light morning breeze ruffled his cape and ran through his hair. Erika slowly walked towards Robin so not to startle him. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Robin felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see who it was. He looked over his shoulder to find Erika standing there. Quickly she took her hand back. Her dark hair and cape were lightly tossed in the wind. Her long white top and red pants clung snugly to her. Erika's icy blue eyes displayed a frightened, yet curious look.

Erika stared in to Robin's eyes; she felt herself beginning to blush. She looked away quickly to hide the color in her face saying, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't-"

"What are you doing awake at this hour?" He asked lightly. Erika began to slowly walk away. "I'm not saying you have to leave, I was just wondering."

"Do you know who brought me the blankets?"

Robin turned to face her saying, "Yeah, it was Beast Boy. He said you looked cold. He must have checked on you at least 20 times last night."

"Oh, that was nice of him."

"Yeah, that's the way he is."

They both continued to stare out across the sky without a word. Soon she began to feel that this was a moment of which he wished to spend alone. "Well it's been awesome, but I best be going." Erika ran quickly down the stairs, not watching where she was going. When she reached the bottom step she ran in to Raven.

Raven pushed herself off the ground shocked to still find Erika hanging around. "Why are you still around I figured you would've taken a hint and left." She said very defensively.

"Well, I was invited to stay while I help you guys with the Terra situation. Do you have a problem with that?" Her voice displayed the same harshness.

"Yeah actually I do, you're evil and I don't allow villains to stay in the tower."

"You're the only one who thinks I'm evil everyone else is ok with me."

"Then they don't have very good judgment do they."

Both girls took fighting stances. Raven sent the first attack, "Azerath Metrion Zynthos." Erika just barely managed to dodge the attack by sliding underneath her attack. Once she was right in front of Raven she slammed her foot in to Raven's chest sending her flying back in to the wall. She climbed quickly to her feet threatening her, "You're going to pay for that."

"I don't think so." Quickly Erika placed her hands to the sides of her forehead. Raven was floating mid-air and couldn't use her powers.

"What's…? What's going on?" Erika gave Raven an evil smirk.

"You're… you're a-"

"A telapath, that's right. And I'm far better than you'll ever have a chance of becoming."

Robin had heard the loud crash from below and began wondering what was going on downstairs. Robin came down the stairs just as Erika had Raven in her control. Quickly Erika dropped Raven, hoping that he wouldn't guess about her powers. Robin looked at both girls then asked, "What's going on?"

"How could you?" Raven asked Robin angrily as she stormed off towards her room.

"Robin I-"

"I don't want to hear it."

Robin left Erika in the stairwell all by herself. Erika dropped to her knees, pulled her hood over her head and began to cry. "Great, what a wonderful way to get them to like me." She sat there for a long while just crying.

After sometime, however, Erika sensed Beast Boy coming. His mind wandered through the previous day. It seemed things hadn't been going well for him until she showed up, and then it only got worse. "No, no, no he can't know about them." And she shoved the thought out of her mind.

Beast Boy came to the stair well that led to the roof. He saw a figure slumped on the ground in a blue hooded cloak. "Raven?" he asked "Raven what are you doing here and why are you crying?" He ran over to her and slowly pushed her hood back over her face. Realizing that it wasn't who he thought he changed his concerns. "Erika? Erika, what's wrong?"

"Like you don't already know!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you just go away like Robin and not even give me a chance to explain." Erika sat there; tears continuing to rapidly fall from her face to the floor.

Beast Boy reached down and helped a sobbing Erika to her feet. Slowly he looked at her with a comforting gaze. The look she returned with her icy blue eyes was one filled with years of hurt and let downs.

"Erika would you please tell me what happened?"

"Yeah I guess so." Erika wiped the tears from her eyes and began to tell Beast Boy everything

"So you see we had a miniature battle and Robin thinks that I was trying to hurt Raven for no reason. She ran off and I got the blame."

"Why would you mess with Raven?"

"I didn't plan to it just happened. Look I'll just get lost and you won't have any more problems."

"But then how are you going to help us with Terra?"

"What?"

"If you want to leave you can, but you're most welcome to stay." Beast Boy turned to leave but her hand on his shoulder made him turn back around.

"Wait, you mean I don't have to leave?"

"No, but if you do stay I'd keep away from Raven."

Erika laughed at Beast Boy's remark. He'd shown her so much kindness. But something wore heavy on her mind how to get Robin on her side. Erika didn't need anymore enemies, Raven was enough.


	7. Communication at last

7. Communication at Last

For the next couple days Erika hid in the lowest parts of Titans Tower, thinking. How was she going to keep Raven off her back, and how could she prove to Robin that she wouldn't cause them any harm. She spent her time down there hoping that no one knew where she was. Out of all of the Titans, only one did. Robin had seen her retreat down to the depths of the tower. This too was his favorite place to think. However, he figured she could have it, for the moment.

Robin stood in the shadows watching Erika. He liked to watch her stumble around and talk to herself. Lately this had become his favorite pastime. Why she fascinated him so much, he had no clue. She was different, so lost and simple, yet angry and manipulative. And as hard as it was for him to believe it, he actually enjoyed watching her for hours on end.

"Hey man! What are you doing? Cyborg asked, coming up behind Robin.

"Shh, Cyborg, look."

"Hey look it's the little trouble maker, so that's where she-. Hey what are you doing down here?" He said with a suspicious tone.

"Don't worry about it. Look at her, what do you think she's doing."

"You think I know? I'm not the one who's been spying on her for the past three days."

"I'm not spying on her." Robin said becoming more defensive.

"Then what would you call it?"

"Look I'm just making sure she keeps away from Raven. Since Beast Boy said she's staying we don't need constant fighting between them."

"Right, whatever you say." Still not believing a word he was saying.

"I wonder what she's talking about. Maybe we should get closer?"

"I have a better idea. Instead of sneaking around why don't we just ask her."

"No that'd be too-, that's a great idea!"

"Robin, I was only kidding. It's a terrible idea." Cyborg grabbed a hold of Robin's cape to keep him stationary. "What are you doing? You're acting like Beast Boy."

After several minutes he returned to his normal self and answered, "Truth, I don't have any clue. I couldn't control myself."

Erika sat on a large metal box. Suddenly she began hearing voices. She closed her eyes and focused her mind. An image began to appear. The voices belonged to Cyborg and Robin. They were watching her from not very far away. When they were looking away from her, she walked around behind them. Then she placed her hand on Robin's shoulder and asked, "Why are you watching me?"

Robin turned around and Erika quickly pulled her hood over her face to hide her blushing. He was caught. He didn't figure this was going to happen so he didn't know what to do. Thinking quickly he began to say, "Erika I-"

"I believe your words were I don't want to hear it." She said cutting him off while turning to leave.

"Erika I'm sorry, I was wrong."

"You were wrong? That's right, you were! You didn't even give me a chance to tell you what was going on. No, you'd much rather think that Raven was innocent. She didn't act that way before I got here, so it had to be entirely my fault! And now all you can think to say is you're sorry! Well…well." Erika turned around and threw her arms around Robin. She did it so quickly that her hood fell of to reveal she was crying. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, thank you."

There was nothing more he could do. Erika was an emotional wreck. She needed help; she needed someone she could count on. Robin wasn't sure he could be that person, but really he had no choice.

Erika's head began throbbing and she fell to the ground. Images of Terra's betrayal and uncontrolled powers flooded through out her mind. She saw the blonde girl floating mid-air atop a large bolder. Terra floated to her side and whispered lightly into her ear. "Do not harm them!" Slowly the image faded from her mind until all that was left was a black screen. It was then the she slipped into unconsciousness.


	8. Red X

8. Red X

Erika woke to find herself lying in a strange room. She couldn't identify anything, but it didn't help that her vision was extremely blurred and her head was still pounding. She couldn't recall what had happened or how she ended up here. Erika sat up and then quickly lay back down. She was hoping that sitting up would help her headache but it only seemed to make it worse. She shut her eyes again. "What am I going to do?" Just then she heard the doors to the room slide open. She turned to see what it was. Mistake, a jolt of extreme pain rushed to her head. Robin had entered the room. He walked over to where Erika was lying, and realized that she was awake.

"I see you're up. How do you feel?"

"Not to good, my head's killing me."

"I can imagine. You crashed really hard on the floor yesterday. What happened?"

"I don't really remember, all I know is that what ever did happen it's giving me a serious headache."

"Well I won't keep you up then; if you're going to get better you need to rest."

"Yeah I suppose you're right." Robin turned and walked towards the exit. Erika couldn't believe that he was actually making sure she was all right. Even though there was pain she turned and looked towards the door. "Hey Robin."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Yeah anytime."

Robin left and Erika was left alone in the room once again. "What am I going to do? I can't spend the next few days just lying here. I have a job to do, and if I don't, well it wouldn't be good." She decided after a few more minutes of laying there that she had to get up no matter how much it hurt. Slowly she sat up. Her head felt like someone had dropped a bowling ball on it. She stood up her legs felt like Jell-O; they could barely hold her weight. Erika slowly walked towards the door, and the she started down the hallway. She'd never been in this part of the tower so she had no clue where she was going. The father down the hallway she went the stranger she felt. This wasn't like the rest of the tower. Nobody had been down here in awhile and she could tell. Finally she reached the end of the hallway. At the very end she found a door. She stopped in front of it. Erika tried to use her powers to see what was inside but when she tried her head began throbbing and she fell to the ground. "Ok I guess I'm just going to have to look inside for myself." She muttered as she got back on her feet. She opened the door and stepped inside.

The door closed behind her. There weren't any windows so she couldn't see a thing. She found the light switch and turned it on. The room was very dusty. It looked foggy and the air was hard to breathe. Other than being extremely dusty the room was perfectly normal. There was nothing strange about it. She wondered why someone would put a room at the end of a hallway with no other rooms if they didn't have something to hide. Erika's head began receiving jolts of pain. She shut her eyes and saw an image of someone opening a hidden door on the wall. She walked over to the wall from her vision. She found the button on the wall that opened the door. She walked in side the secret room. It was amazing. There were loads of small square safes on the wall. At the end of the room there was a container that looked to be the outline of a person. Erika figured she'd check out what was in the small containers. Each container had a DNA scanner for the lock. Erika wouldn't have been able to get in except she'd picked up a special something on her way here.

She pulled out one of Robin's gloves and placed it on her hand. Then she placed her hand on the scanner. It glowed as it scanned her hand. Then the container popped open. She pulled it the rest of the way open. The box was empty. "Hm, that's a shame." Then she moved on to the next box. Finally she found something that amused her. "What's this?" She said in reference to the weapon she'd found. It was like a ninja-throwing star but in the shape of an X. The next container had black gloves with the same style X's on the palm of them. However the item that interested her most was in the next box. She opened it to find a belt with the same symbol on it as the gloves. The belt had many capsules on it. She was half tempted to mess with them but she didn't want to cause an explosion. She took the belt out of the safe, then she realized that the belt belonged to Red X. "Ah, so Robin is the mysterious Red X. That's very interesting. She paused to recall a memory from her past. Wait a second if Robin was Red X he should have known who I was. Hmm if I recall correctly Red X was trying to locate his belt. That means Robin took it from him. This item could become very useful. I think I'll take it with me."

Erika closed the safe that once had contained the belt. And walked of towards the room she'd been left to recover in. It was about time she checked in.


	9. Robin's Dream

9. Robin's Dream

Robin left Erika's room and entered the living space of Titans Tower. Beast Boy was sitting on the couch. When he heard Robin enter the room he asked, "How is she?"

"I think she'll be all right. I'm not really sure what happened, but she seems to be doing better. She was awake when I checked in on her, so I guess she's better." Robin said wearily.

"Robin, what is it?"

"Well when I was in there she couldn't move without bringing herself to cry because of the pain. I'm not sure which is better her being asleep or her being awake and in so much pain. I just wish I could figure out what happened to her."

"May-be she'll tell us when she's feeling better. I know that if I was feeling like her I really wouldn't want to talk about anything either."

Robin left for his room. He didn't know what to do. He wanted Erika to feel better so she could help with Terra, but most of him wanted her to feel better so he could be around her without worrying. He'd only felt this way about one other person in his life, and she was still around. Robin lay down on his bed he needed time to think. After several minutes he drifted off to sleep.

_Robin sat by himself in the middle of a forest staring at the trees. They all looked the same. Each branch had the same features. When the wind blew at one, they all moved the same way. The wind was icy, and stung Robin's skin. He wanted to get away, but he didn't know which way to go. Then Robin felt two warm hands on the part of his arms that weren't covered by material. _

"_Are you cold?" Asked a familiar voice. Robin looked to find Erika standing beside him with her hands on his arms. Robin looked at her, but didn't answer. "If you are you can have my cloak; I don't need it." Robin still didn't answer her. She undid the clasp that held the front of her cloak together, placed it around Robin, and redid the clasp. "There that should help." Erika sat down beside Robin and began laughing. _

"_What's so funny?" His tone was much more serious than he expected._

"_It's nothing, really I was just thinking."_

"_About what?"_

"_What you'd you say if you ever found out."_

"_Found out, about what?"_

"_Nothing." Erika began to blush and unlike usual she couldn't pull her hood over her face to hide it. "You know what Robin?"_

"_No, what?"_

"_I'd kind of like to take a walk. Do you want to go with me? You know so I don't have to walk through the woods by my self."_

"_Yeah, that'd be great." Robin and Erika set off down one of the paths, Robin still wore Erika's cloak. Although the cloak was quite big on her it was rather short on Robin because he was considerably taller. In truth he looked rather ridiculous. _

_Robin realized that he had no clue where they were or where they were going. He looked around nothing looked familiar. He looked over at Erika beside him. She seemed to know exactly where she was going. Then again she always did, she was always so certain of everything. "Hey where are we going?"_

"_You'll see, it's a surprise!" Just then they entered a clearing. The forest floor seemed to end just a short ways in front of them. Robin walked over to the cliff's edge and looked down. It was a long way down. "Well this as far as I'll go." Erika said sweetly as she walked up beside him. _

"_Don't you mean we?"_

"_No! Ha ha!" She laughed as she shoved her foot out in front of him and pushed him off the edge. _

Robin snapped awake, he was breathing heavily. He looked around. Sure enough he was in his own, very familiar, room. He sat up on his bed, "Phew, it was just a dream." He got up and went to the door. He opened it to find Raven standing there.

"You're up, finally! We need to talk!" Raven led Robin up to the roof. Once on the roof Raven turned to face Robin she looked distressed. "You need to keep an eye on her, she's up to something."

"Raven, I think-"

"No, listen to me. I know her all to well, we're enemies. She'll manipulate you, and then destroy you."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, she was my best friend. Once I trusted her she came after me. I couldn't believe it at first, but it happened. The sooner you realize it the easier it'll be to fight back. You know you'll have to."

Robin thought about what Raven said. She was wrong even if Erika was like that at one time she most certainly wasn't now. There was no way. "You're wrong, Erika's not like that. You might not like her but it doesn't make her evil!"

"Robin, I'm trying to look out for you, I don't want you to get hurt. She works only for herself, and doesn't care about anyone."

"I, I-" He'd had enough. He wasn't going to fight with her it was pointless. He stormed off.


	10. Meeting in the Storm

10. Meeting in the Storm

It'd been a few days since Erika's black out and her headache had only become worse. She didn't like doing nothing all day so she told everyone that she was fine and felt much better. Today was different than any other day. She didn't have to stay cooped up in the tower because it was raining. She had somewhere to be. She walked out the door and in to the rain. Then she heard someone calling after her. She turned around to find Robin coming towards her. "Did you want something?" She asked confused about why Robin was taking up her time, she was going to be late. Apparently he didn't hear her because he didn't respond. Finally Robin reached her.

"Where are you going?"

"No where, why?"

"Yeah right. It's really storming don't you think that whatever it is it can wait."

"No. Look Robin I'm going to go do some research on Terra's condition. I figured you guys would prefer I reversed Terra sooner as to later."

"Yeah, you're probably right." He paused for a moment to think about what he would say next, and then began again. "Well don't you think you could at least wait until the storm subsides?"

"Robin it's been storming for days, it's not going to stop any time soon. Look I need to go, ok?

"Ok, well at least let me offer you the R-cycle." He quickly added in defeat. It was clear she was going whether he wanted her to or not.

"I don't think-"

"Please, just take it. It'll be better than walking in the storm and it'll be faster."

"Ok I guess I can." He tossed her the keys and turned to go back inside. "Hey Robin."

He turned back around. "Yeah?"

"Thanks!" She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, then ran off to where he stored to R-cycle. Robin stood there stunned.

Erika put Robin's helmet on; it fit quite loosely, started up the R-cycle, and road off. She was glad that Robin let here take the R-cycle because if she wouldn't have she would've been late. And that would've been bad. Erika thought about what she told Robin. She didn't lie exactly. She was going to see Terra but, but not because she need to figure out how to bring her back, that wasn't her job. She felt terrible about lying to him but she needed to get out of the tower without playing 20 questions with him. And besides it's not like he would find out any time soon.

Erika came to the entrance to Slades old hideout, the place where Terra was. She left the R-cycle outside and walked in. It was dark, she couldn't see anything, and because of her headache she couldn't use her powers. Before going any farther she waited for her eye's to adjust. Once they did she continued in to the hideout. When Erika came to where Terra was she saw a shadowy figure leaned against the stone figure.

"You're late." Said the shadow moving slightly closer to her.

"I'm sorry, they held me up."

"Hmm, that's no excuse you arranged this meeting. You said that you may have an item of interest."

"Yes I do, here." Erika said as she tossed the belt over.

"What is this?" The figure mumbled as she inspected the item Erika'd handed over.

"Well you said that you could use some help, I'm thinking a trade." She stated quite confidently. "That's Red X's belt he needs it and we have it. Perhaps we could enlist his help in exchange for his tools back."

"Very clever dear. I'm not sure why all your other masters cast you aside. You're proving to be very helpful, and very devious. Good work my child, you shall be rewarded."

"I figured you would be happy. Now how about some help with her." She said pointing to Terra. "I can't come back without any information."

"Well I've got it all figured out. All we need is to master a reversal spell. It'll take me about a month to lean it, and then teach it to you."

"Why do I need to know it?" She puzzled trying to figure it out for herself.

"Well I don't have the power strength needed to perform it and you do. So you'll need to keep the act up for about a month and then, we'll make our move."

"And if Red X takes the offer we'll be practically unstoppable."

"I knew you'd be very helpful. If you find anything else worth my while tell me, got it?"

"Yes of course."

"Now get going, we wouldn't want them to worry." The figure walked the opposite way from Erika. "Heh heh heh." Erika laughed as she walked back to the R-cycle. The whole time she was thinking about Robin and what he'd think if he ever out.


	11. Paranoia, Nerves, and the Mask

11. Paranoia, Nerves, and the Mask-Revealed

It'd been three days since Erika's meeting and it was still raining. Since it had been raining so much the Titans had been stuck inside. Erika usually spent most of her time in the room she'd been staying in but today she was trying something different. She was hanging out with Starfire. They'd talked a lot about nothing all morning and now they were painting each other's nails. Erika couldn't ever remember have this much fun. It had really gotten her thinking.

_ May-be I should help them and not her. I've never had any real friends and this is really fun. Erika what are you thinking. You've done this you're whole life. You don't need friends. Only masters and of course victims._

"Right Erika?" Due to her thinking Erika hadn't heard Starfire or noticed Raven appear at Starfire's side.

"Huh?" Erika looked over at Starfire only to see Raven. "Uh, hi?"

"Hi? I was wondering if either of you saw Robin? And Starfire said that you guys hadn't seen him all day."

"Yeah, I haven't seen him."

"Ok then I just figured if anyone knew where he was it'd be you."

"Nope, no clue." Raven walked off leaving Erika stunned. She didn't attempt to fight with her; she didn't try to kick her out. What was Ravens problem, she didn't give up that easily.

"Hello? You in there?" Starfire asked waving her hand in front of Erika's face.

"Huh? Yeah." Erika's head began throbbing. She was use to the pain but she needed to go lie down. "Hey Star?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not feeling to well I'm going to go lie down, ok"

"Oh yes, of course. If you don't feel good, rest is exactly what you need.

Erika wandered down to Terra's old room; it was where she'd been allowed to sleep. She lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

Raven had continued to look for Robin. When she walked back through where Erika and Starfire had been she noticed Starfire was by herself and Erika had left.

"Starfire where is she?"

"Who?"

"Erika!"

"Well she said she didn't feel good so she wanted to lie down."

"Didn't you think to check to make sure that's what she's really doing?"

"I don't understand, we never check to make sure what we're all doing."

"Yeah well we can trust all the Titans."

"Hold on it seemed like earlier you guys were ok with each other?"

"It's clear that I'm not going to get her to leave but we need to be careful I'm not sure what it is she really wants."

"I thought she wanted to help us with Terra?"

"That's what she said, but no one just wants to help us. She has other plans."

"I don't think so but I'll check to make sure."

"Good." With that Raven left room. Nobody understood why Raven was so worried Erika had been there for a while if she was going to do something she would have already done it.

Raven was sure she'd checked everywhere for Robin. "How obvious." Raven said as she realized that she didn't check his room. Raven wandered down the corridor that led to Robin's room. When she came to the entrance she knocked on the door. "Hey Robin?" No response, "Robin are you in there?" Still no response. Raven placed her ear to the door and listened. She heard footsteps. The next thing she knew her ear was no longer against the medal door it was against Robin's chest. "Hi ya!" She said lamely as she stepped back. "Um, I really need to, uh, uh, were you sleeping?"

"Yeah weren't you?"

"No, and nobody else was either."

"Why not it's early in the morning."

"It's two o'clock."

"What?"

"Yeah it's not early in the morning."

"Right." Robin stepped outside his room. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"It's Erika she needs to be watched."

"Why?"

"Because she's up to something I just know it."

"Raven, Erika's not up to anything, ok I know you're paranoid about her, but she's really not that bad."

"Not that bad? Robin I know more about Erika than you do she's trouble Robin. I've told you a million times, I've told every one. But nobody listens to me."

"Nobody listens to you because we all hang around Erika and we all know that she's not up to anything!"

Tears began to well up in her eyes. She couldn't believe that Robin wouldn't trust her. She knew that Erika was bad news. Why couldn't they see it too? "You're, you're impossible!" She ran off crying. Ever since Erika came here she had become quite emotional.

Starfire walk to Erika's room, she opened the door, and looked around.

She saw Erika lying on the bed, asleep. Raven didn't have anything to worry about Erika hadn't left Titans Tower.

Erika had been asleep for a while when she heard Star fire enter the room. She could tell she was trying to be quite but because of Erika's powers she sensed Starfire's thoughts. Wait a second, she sensed her thoughts, that meant she could use her powers again. She sat up on the bed and looked at Starfire.

"I'm sorry I was too noisy, I woke you up." She said as she hurried out the door.

** That was weird.** Erika's head felt better so she got up, and walked towards the door. She opened it to find Robin about to knock on her door.

"Hey what are doing here?'

"Well, I, um, I, uh…"

"Robin? Are you ok?"

"Uh, uh, yeah."

"You're acting really weird."

"I, I, um, I was, uh."

"Right, well if you don't mind moving I'm going to go find Starfire."

"Erika I was wondering if you want to hang out sometime?" He said so quickly, she couldn't understand what he was saying.

"You're going to have to relax, and speak slowly if you want me to understand you."

He took a deep breath. This was Erika he'd talked to her a million times. It was perfectly normal. But Robin couldn't bring himself to relax. No matter how many times he told himself he'd done it a million times he was still freaking out. "Never mind."

"Ok well I'll see ya later, and if you ever feel like telling me what you said come find me." Naturally with her powers working again she knew exactly what he said, and what he was thinking. She just wanted him to wait till he was comfortable to talk to her. Before he could say anything else she'd slipped past him and out in to the tower.

Erika wandered around thinking. What was wrong with her. She knew what she had to do but the longer she stayed here the less she wanted to do it. When she first came here she did a lot of pretending. Pretending to be sweet, pretending to be helping it was all an act, or well it used to be. Now Erika found herself not having to pretend. She really did want them to like her, she really did enjoy spending all her time with them, and most of all she really did want to be here. Erika didn't have her mask any more. She no longer had any need for it. It wouldn't be easy this time. If they interfered she couldn't just throw out her pretending and get rid of them. She had real feelings for them, mostly Robin. Then she realized it was all because of Robin. She'd only hung out with Starfire for barely a day. She didn't talk to Beast Boy any more. Cyborg and her were cool but she wouldn't have any problem handling him if need be. And she would most certainly have no problem eliminating Raven; if it wouldn't blow her cover she would have done it all ready. But Robin would cause her trouble. Mostly he was the only person she talked to, and he looked out for her. Erika didn't want to admit it but she really did have feelings for him. She couldn't destroy him there was no way she could, that only left her one option. Quitting her mission. She wouldn't help her get Terra. She wasn't going to hurt the Titans. Erika had something to fight for now, and she wasn't giving it up.


	12. Her True Feelings

12. Her True Feelings

Two weeks had past since Erika's meeting and the rain had finally subsided. For those two weeks no one saw Raven unless they were saving the city. She was still angry at all the Titans.

Today you could fined everyone, except Raven in the obstacle course. Every one had run the course except Erika. She'd seen all the other Titans and couldn't believe how slow they were. She knew the course would be too easy for her, but she had to make it look difficult. If she didn't they'd wonder where she got her training. She'd abandoned that way of life, and didn't want it brought back up.

"Are you ready Erika?" Robin called ready to start the course.

"Sure am. Let's get this show on the road." With that Robin started up the course and the timer. The first obstacle was a couple of robots, built by Cyborg. Erika dodged their attacks, stopped them all from moving, the same way she did Raven, then she crushed them. Next up were the blocks. They would pop up out of the ground simotaniously. Erika closed her eyes. She felt the first one coming. She then jumped up and landed on top of it. She continued through most of the rest of the blocks. However three fourths of the way through something happened that Erika didn't expect. Her head began throbbing. For a moment she lost her balance, but then she regained it. This wasn't her power's quitting on her. This was her master; she was calling her. The pain subsided and she continued on with the course. She made it through another two obstacles before it happened again. This time the pain was worse, and it lasted longer. Erika had changed herself. She didn't want to help her any more. She finally made it to the end of the course. Once again however her head began hurting worse than the first two times. It was even worse than when her power's had failed. She blacked out.

She woke to find herself on the sidelines of the course with Robin standing over her.

" Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"What happened back there. You just kind of collapsed. Was it that tough?"

"No, I just, uh, I don't really know what happened." Robin offered her his hand and helped her up. He still wondered what happened to her, but whatever it was she didn't seem very interested in sharing. Erika looked at Robin. Why'd it have to happen to her? She knew that her master wouldn't give up just because she didn't show up. This was only the beginning. She didn't want to hurt him. He meant so much to her. However if she came looking for her then the only way to even try to protect him would mean certain death for her. She smiled weakly and walked towards the tower.

Night had fallen and Erika still remained on the roof of the tower. The headaches came and went but they weren't that painful anymore. She'd grown quite use to them. She didn't know what to do. If she stuck around here then she put everyone in the tower's life in danger. But if she went and they came looking for her. They were in danger as well. Either way the Titans were going to be killed. Erika groaned and buried her face in her knees. This was a lose-lose situation.

"Hey" She felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find Robin. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Of course not." Robin sat down next to her.

" So any ways, what are you doing up here all by your self."

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Stuff."

"So you're not going to tell me."

"Most likely not."

"I see. You know Raven's really suspicious about you. She thinks you're really dangerous."

"I don't blame her. Raven and I, well we have history, and it's not very good."

"Oh, so she isn't just being over cautious. She actually has reason behind it."

"Robin I-"

"Erika chill, whatever happened is in the past, and it's pretty clear you've changed."

Inside she relaxed, she actually thought that Robin was going to believe Raven. "You know Robin. I've never really had a home or family. And I didn't have clue what friends were. I was always the outcast, but then I met you guys. You treat me like I'm not some freak. Like a real friend. It means more to me than the whole entire world, thank you."

"Well I guess since were that amazing, you're welcome." Both of them laughed. It wasn't like Robin to make jokes but when he was around Erika he mostly acted like Beast Boy. He stopped laughing and looked at her. She made a whole different side of him come out. Some one he could never imagine being around his friends. He noticed that she'd stopped laughing and was looking at him. He leaned in and kissed her.

She could never in all her life remember anything so amazing. She felt like the world had exploded, regrouped, and then exploded again. When everything was said and done she just sat there in shock. Now she knew how Robin felt the other day. It was something she just hadn't expected. "I, um, do you, uh." She was at a loss for words. "I think, I, uh, I think I'm going to, uh, go to-"

"Sleep?"

"Exactly." He walked Erika to Terra's room. She didn't say anything until she opened the room door. Then she turned around and looked at Robin. Trying to figure out what she wanted to say. Finally she came up with a few words. "Goodnight Robin, sleep well." She walked backwards in to the room and shut the door. Then however she ran in to something hard. She looked up and before she had a chance to scream the boy had covered her mouth and spoke quietly. "She will not allow you to quit Erika."


	13. Missing

13. Missing!

Robin went to the living space. All the titans were setting in the room watching a movie. "So I see you decided to join us." Beast Boy said. "Where's Erika? She loves movie night."

"Well actually, uh, Erika, she, she was tired, and, she went to, to, to bed."

"Right, so she, what did you say?"

"He said that Erika was tired and went to bed." They all looked towards the door of the room where the response had come from. In the doorway stood Raven. She walked down to the rest of the titans. "I think I owe everyone an apology. I was quick to judge her and I took everything out on you guys. I was wrong Erika's really not that bad." This was unbelievable she was actually admitting she was wrong. "So are we ok or should I go back to my room?"

"Yeah we're ok, sit down." Beast boy said lightly

Raven sat in one of the chairs and watched the movie with the rest of the titans. She hated to admit it but she hated fighting with them.

It'd been a long time since Robin had spent time with his friends and not Erika. It had been fun but he felt rather board with out her around. Robin walked towards his room it had been an amazing night. Him and Erika, well to him words couldn't describe it. He opened his door and stepped inside. He paced around his room for a little while. Then he lay down. He turned over to the right, then the left. Then he turned back again. It was pointless he just couldn't sleep.

He got up and went to the kitchen. Drinking milk before you went to bed was supposed to help you fall asleep. He took the milk out of the refrigerator and poured it to the rim of his cup. After taking care of the milk he drank the whole glass down. He then walked back to his room hoping that now he'd be able to fall asleep. He lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He still wasn't tired. Why couldn't he just fall asleep and be completely awake in the morning. That was an obvious answer, Erika. It was all because of her. Robin tried to take his mind off her by thinking about all of the missions, but that only made him think about her more. It made him think about how easy it had become since Erika had been helping them. At first she'd only use martial arts leading everyone to believe that she didn't have any super powers. Even then she'd been a huge help. He hated to admit it but her skills were better than his. Then during a battle with Control Freak, Erika had revealed that she did actually have supper powers and they were even better than her martial arts. Truth be told she was one of the very best people on the team.

He rolled back over and checked the clock, 12:05, only five minutes had past. After several more minutes Robin gave up on his attempt to fall asleep. He got up and turned his light on. There were plenty of things he could do. First he went down to the computer area to put all of their recent missions on file. He hadn't been keeping up on them lately. He looked at the computer next to it was a large stack of mission forms. Wow he'd really been neglecting them. He read through the first one. This was the very first mission Erika had helped them with.

In about an hour he'd finished the stack of papers. At the bottom of the stack he'd found one of Red X's throwing stars. How it'd gotten there he had no clue. He picked up the X and left the room. Robin walked past Terra's room and continued down the hallway. Finally he came to the room at the end of the hallway he opened the door stepped in and then shut the door behind him. The room was rather plain and boring, although it was very dusty. He walked over to the wall on the other side of the room and pushed the button on the wall. The wall slide open revealing the room which contained the things that Robin still had of Red X. Robin went to one of the safes on the wall of the room. He placed his hand on the scanner and the door to the safe popped open. Inside were two X shaped throwing stars like the one Robin held in his hand. He placed the X in the safe with the rest of them and shut then shut it. He figured that while he was here he might as well take inventory of all the items he had. He opened the safe next to it inside were a pair of gloves with X's on the palms of them.

After checking most of the boxes he came to the final one. This was the one that held Red X's belt. He placed his hand on the scanner the door popped open. When Robin looked inside he was shocked, the container was empty. Someone had taken the belt. Robin quickly left the room and headed towards one of the other titan's room. There was only one other person who knew about the room.

It was almost suicidal to enter Raven's room without her permission, but this was an emergency. He opened her door and entered her room. He walked quietly over to her bed, she was sound asleep. He reached down and gently shook her.

Raven woke to find Robin standing above her. Robin wouldn't come in her room especially when she was sleeping unless there was an emergency, something was wrong. "Robin what's going on."

"Someone had to break into the tower! They took Red X's belt!"

"What? How? How could someone get into the tower in the first place? Let alone find that room."

"I don't know. Red X he broke in before, may-be he did it again."

"That could be, if he has it he's a real threat. We need to let the rest of them know."

"Right"

Robin and Raven went and woke up the rest of the Titans. All of them were in the living space of the tower. Everyone except Erika.

"Robin What about Erika?" Raven asked

"What do you mean?"

"Well she doesn't know about Red X and the zinothium, don't you think we should tell her?"

"Right." Robin ran off towards the room in which Erika occupied leaving the rest of the titans behind. When he came to her door he paused for a moment. Then he opened up the door. He walked into the room. It was rather cold. Robin looked over to find that the window was open. That was a bit strange. He walked over to the bed. It was empty. In fact it hadn't even been touched. Erika was missing.


	14. Escape

14. Escape

Erika clung tightly to her captor's shoulders. Usually in this situation she would have let herself fall away, but he was running much faster than she would have expected; across roof tops that were very far from the ground. To let go meant sure death. She knew who had taken her from the tower; she'd met him many months ago when this plan had first been devised. During that time he'd refused to help because he'd seen no personal gain from it. However due to the most recent circumstances, which she had created, it was clear that he'd excepted _her _offer, and that _she'd_ already poisoned him. The run would take a day or so to reach their destination and it'd only been a few hours. Erika was already growing board.

"So, about how much longer do you think this is going to take?" She asked impatiently.

He grunted in response to her. He really didn't want to talk, so she tried another question. "So am I heavy, I mean you've been carrying, me for quite sometime now."

He grunted again.

"Is that all you're going to say to me?" There was no response. " You know I have two legs; you could put me down if I'm heavy. I know how to walk."

"If I put you down you'll try to run." He laughed clearly not fooled by her.

"If I try to run I wont make it to far, so it'd be pointless. I'm very sure you're way faster than me."

Once again he laughed through his teeth at her sad attempt, "I'm not going to put you down, end of story."

Erika rolled her eyes in disagreement. She knew how pathetic her attempt to escape was. She was just testing his mind. Her very poor attempts didn't even get him thinking about her not being as smart as he'd been informed. Escaping from Red X would be much more difficult than she'd expected. She knew he was fast and would be hard to fool, but apparently _her_ poisoning had a much greater effect on him than it had on any other one of _her _cronies. Erika'd been one of them previously but something at the tower had brought her back to her normal state of mind.

"What are there no more completely ridiculous, and simple minded plans?" He asked sarcastically.

If only he knew what was going on in her mind. She had no more need to act dumb; she'd tested him enough. She didn't need her powers to be clever, but they did give her an advantage. She knew exactly where he was taking her. That allowed her to develop an amazing plan. It would require them making it to their destination before she made her escape. The longer she listened to what he was thinking the more precise her plan became. He would be clue less.

She no longer needed to cling closely to him. She'd grown use to the speed. Naturally loosening her grip on him. She was still incredibly board, but she waited patiently.

Robin had no idea where Erika could have gone. He was sure that he'd left her perfectly safe in the room just a couple of hours ago. There was something terribly wrong. Why would she suddenly disappear? He thought Erika liked it here why would she just take off? Then again he could be completely over thinking the situation. She could have just left to go on a walk or something. Then again that wasn't Erika; that actually happening was highly unlikely.

Robin ran to the garage where he stored the R-cycle. He quickly slid the snugly fitting helmet over his head. Without thinking he started it up and sped off. He would find her. However he had no clue to where she could have gone.

Erika and Red X had reached the mountain,_ her _hideout; very soon it would be time to act. After several more minutes they reached the place Erika had seen. This was where she planed to make her escape. There was a large dusty red boulder in front of them. This was the entrance to _her_ hideout. Once inside the entrance there would be a very small path. It wasn't large enough to walk strait forward on it so he'd have to shift to the side. That meant he could no longer carry her on his back. The tunnel was very dark and since he was new to the group it'd be very difficult for him to navigate. However that was not the case for her. She'd spent three years learning the path. That had been a big part of her training. _She'd_ taught her how to use her powers to navigate in the dark. _She _had planned to get rid of all of Erika's weaknesses however _she'd_ never imagined that Erika would end up as the enemy.

Red X stared at the entrance. He quickly got as close to it without going in and swung her off his back. He made sure she was inside the cave before he sat her feet on the ground. Then he swiftly followed her in. They both shifted their stands to the side and began to walk down the long path. Red X didn't look very comfortable in the path. His body was slightly shaking, no doubt hoping not to get them lost. His eyes were very wide and alert sometimes watching the path, but mostly watching her. Not that he could actually see her. Every once and a while he'd stick his hand out to touch he cape, making sure she was still there. Erika on the other hand was very comfortable. She walked confidently completely sure of what she was looking for. It was so dark in the tunnel that sight was no longer a sense had at your disposal, however that made no difference to her. She kept her eyes shut tightly. Through the careful training she had received she was able to use her powers like her eyes. Inside her mind she could see her surroundings clear as day.

A few moments past and Erika found what she was looking for. She felt the cool wind on her face and in her mind she saw the passage. It was an opening in the top of the cave that would be where she would escape. She had discovered the small passage when she had first lived here. It was a short cut that led to the top of the rock they'd entered in. From there she would hopefully be able to escape back to the tower. There was only one problem with escaping, Red X was following closely behind her and she would need to be extremely quick for him not to notice her absence. However if he did notice her, she was trapped she hadn't allowed for a plan B in case of failure.

Erika felt Red X reach out and touch her cloak, perfect. He wouldn't do that again for several minutes Erika was sure to make it. She felt the wind on top of her and saw the passage. Quickly she jumped making no sound. She found the ledge and placed her self on it. Then she looked back down the tunnel. He'd continued past her, he hadn't noticed her escape. Erika turned her face up. Although her eyes still weren't open she saw the winding tunnel with carefully placed ledges. They weren't large enough to sit on like this one, however she would use them as hand and foot holds so she could make her way up the tunnel.

The climb would take several minutes if not and hour because she had to be very careful. Soon Red x would notice she was gone and he'd be listening for her. So she carefully began the climb. It was pretty much a strait, vertical climb so it was very difficult. Erika let her mind wander slightly as she climbed for two purposes. One, to keep watch for Red X, he'd already noticed she gone and was looking for her, and two, to think. She hadn't had much time lately. Her mind had become quite fogged. At first it was she was under mind poisoning, however once that cleared she became under another type of poisoning.

She looked up the shaft with her eyes open it was still dark, the opening wasn't for a couple of miles yet. She shut her eyes again not wanting to lose track of where she was in the dark. Erika had lost track of Red X he'd grown too far away from her to continue tracking him. If she had continued it would have been a waste of energy that she needed for climbing.

The minutes continued to slowly pass. The view she had of the tunnel hadn't changed yet. She still couldn't see the light of the opening. Erika was beginning to wonder if she'd gotten lost. However there were no side tunnels off this one, besides the one at the bottom that is, so there was no way she could have gotten lost. As she continued up the tunnel she began to see the small opening and felt the cool wind coming in from the outside. She didn't focus on the light or the cool wind. She had to keep her mind focused on climbing. It had been nearly an hour so naturally she was growing tiered. Now that she could see the outside she no longer used her powers to see. It took up too much energy. She could see a little but it was still very dark.

Erika grew ever closer to the light. It was no longer a dim pinhole, but a hole about the size of a sewer opening. The ledges that she'd used as foot and hand holds now grew smaller and thinner, but they still supported her weight. She reached up and touched the top of the rock through the opening. She pulled all of her weight from her feet to her hands until she was out. She breathlessly collapsed on to the rock. Sweat rolled in buckets off her face. The climb had been more of a strain on her body than she would have expected. Her training at the tower hadn't been nearly as intense as it would've been here, she was growing out of shape. She fought to ketch her breath, but it just wouldn't return to normal. Then she heard a soft rustle coming from behind her. The sound of foot steps.

She rolled from her back to her stomach. Her eyes rose from ground level to meet the faces of two figures. One dressed all in black he wore gloves and a cape. He also had a mask with a large x on it. No doubt this was Red X. The other figure had a much slimmer build than he did, but she was still quite muscular. She wore tight black leather pants. A spaghetti strapped shirt that was made out of a material that also clung tightly to her figure. She had on leather boots that had about four inch heels yet she still walked gracefully. Her strait chocolate hair hung down to her thighs and her bangs swept across her face while still hanging in her eyes. Compared to Erika she was very pale but still beautiful. She wore a black mask that tightly covered her mouth and nose. That however wasn't the most unique part about her. She had one eye that matched the color of her hair and burred into Erika's face. The other one was an emerald green. It loosely wandered around never really focusing on anything. She knew exactly what that eye was used for; in fact she'd experienced what it could do. She was by far the most terrifying person she'd even met.

Noticing the pure fear in Erika's eyes a light smirk played across her face. In a high pitched, but still very seductive voice she spoke, "Well child, it seems you've finally stumbled back home. How I've missed you."


	15. Return to the Dark Side

15. Return to the Dark Side

The woman in black stared down at the girl collapsed on the rock, with only one eye; No doubt trying to figure out what to do next. Then quickly with one graceful movement she reached down and picked her up by the hood of her cloak, never letting Erika's feet touch the ground.

While holding the girl at eye level, she turned her other eye to focus on her face. Erika knew what would happen next and it wouldn't be good. This had happened to her once before however at that time she had asked for it, she had wanted to be strong. This time she didn't want extra power; this time she wished to remain free.

Some how, as if she knew what she was thinking, she released her cloak and dropped her to the ground. Then without hesitation she motioned to Red X. He quickly ran over, and before Erika had time to realize what was happening, he picked her up and held her in his strong grip.

Gypsie walked toward the two of them. Erika saw her focus both eyes into hers. She tried to turn her head away, but her cool hands were already pressed to her temples. Gypsies face was only about two inches from hers. She chuckled lightly and spoke softly but with force. "Don't misbehave; it'll make things all the more difficult." She knew that she wasn't going down without a fight.

She tried to close out her mind; to put a wall between herself and Gypsie, but it wasn't working. Every time her defenses were shattered.

Quickly she remembered something. Her mind poisoning only worked if she had access to the mind. The easiest way in was through the eyes. She slammed her lids shut tightly. She wasn't going to give her anymore chances; this was going to end now.

Once again she laughed lightly. Then she used her free fingers to pry her eyelids open. She continued to hold them open and stared deeply into the girls mind. "As complex as ever, I see you still haven't changed." Her left eye, the green one, began to focus more intensely. Her gazer burned through her mind.

Erika screamed loudly in pain. She felt like there was a fire raging inside her mind. It burned intensely and there was no controlling it. A few more moments past with her painful screams, then her eyes went blank and she list consciousness. Her hands fell limply to her sides. Her eyes shut loosely and she was completely limp in Red X's arms.

She took her fingers off Erika's temples and he scooped her up, carrying her like a small child back across the top of the large boulder

Robin returned from hours of searching for her none the wiser. He'd found absolutely no trace of her. It was no longer night; it was actually much closer to noon. The sun shone brightly. He'd searched every where for her, but she was still unfound.

After he'd taken care of the R-cycle he glumly walked back into the tower. He was exhausted from spending all night looking for her. His eyelids were heavy and his feet drug lazily across the floor.

Much to Robins disliking, the tower was completely alive. No one was sleeping as he would have wished. This meant he wouldn't be able to make up any of the sleep he'd lost last night.

He was surprised to find he'd made it to the couch before he'd collapsed, causing everyone to stare at him. They all noticed the dark circles that were visible below his mask, how limps his body was, and how he made barely moving look like a difficult task. Quickly Starfire was at his side. Without a word she picked him up, cradling him in her arms, and carried him out of the room.

She carefully glided down the winding hallways until she came to the door of his room. Without letting go of him she reached out and grabbed the cool metal handle; lightly pushing down until the door slide open.

She slid into his room leaving the door slightly cracked open behind her. Making her pace quicker, she hurried over to his bed, pulling the quilt down with one hand and laying him down with the other.

As she pulled the quilt over him and turned to leave, he began to protest going to sleep. However, Starfire simply raised both hands, palms facing towards him and said, "Sleep, you spent all night looking for the lost Erika; do not push yourself too far." After, she quickly left the room closing the door behind her.

Erika's eyes lightly fluttered open. Her body felt extremely stiff. Just to move her fingers was hard. Her head pounded, but she couldn't remember why. She carefully reached her hand to touch her forehead, trying to avoid more pain. Her head was glazed in sweat and burned under her fingertips.

She softly laid her entire hand across her forehead. Compared to her face her hands felt like ice. When she moved she noticed that she wasn't nearly as stiff. Apparently what ever was wrong was starting to wear off. The longer she held her hand on her forehead the cooler her forehead became. After several minutes her face returned to its normal temperature and she moved her hand back to her side. She slowly sat up and looked around the room.

The room was very familiar, it was her room. The walls were cream colored and the carpet was gold. Thousands of candles lined the wall, although currently none of them where lit. In the far left corner sat her bed. It was the same gold color of the carpet. The floor was littered with books. Although the room was light in color it was very bright. The room was built underground so there were no windows, no chance for light.

There was a light tap on the door. She swiftly kicked of quilt and hurried to it. She was surprised to find Gypsie standing at her door holding a bottle of Tylenol and a glass of water. She wasn't wearing her boots so she was much closer to her height.

"I noticed you were awake and your head wasn't so good, so I brought you something." She said pushing the bottle towards her.

She reached out and took the bottle of Tylenol and opened it with a careful click. She took two of the small capsules and handed the bottle back, taking the glass of water. She shoved the small tablets into her mouth and washed them down with water. In several minutes she would be pain free.

Both girls stared at each other, their faces displaying the same half smile. Gypsie was the first to speak. "Well, I suppose we should restart your training as soon as possible. You have a lot to learn before we complete our mission."

She stared blankly for a moment and then realization flashed across her face. "Yes we should, today. That way I'll have plenty of time to practice." She laughed smugly at her own comment.

Gypsie turned on her heels and walked down the hallway that led to the main living space of the hideout. Before she made it to the end, she called back over her shoulder. "And Erika, the Titans," that word caught her attention "Once we are completed they will be no more."

Erika laughed and said, "I wouldn't have it any other way."


	16. Training

16. Training

Erika sat on the floor of her room. The candles that lined the wall had been lit, and the dim glow reflected off her face. Her legs were crossed tightly and one of the large books that had been stacked on her floor now lay open on her lap. Her eyes quickly glanced down the pages, taking in all the information. Suddenly her head flicked up from the pages and stared towards the door. She quietly shut the book that had once occupied her attention, and slid it off her lap. Still without a sound she carefully stood up and walked to the door. Her hand found the cool metal handle naturally and with her lightest force it turned under her hand. Behind the door she found Red X staring at her in shock, hand raised just about to knock on the door.

"Can I help you?" She asked slightly annoyed by the awestruck expression displayed in the way he stood.

He laughed lightly, apparently amused by her annoyance, and then spoke, his amusement still clear in his tone. "I never believed anyone could be more naturally gifted than Gypsie, but apparently I was wrong."

She rolled her eyes; "I dont have natural talent. I trained several years to get my abilities to be as sharp as they are now." She paused and waited for him to ask her the real question. When he didn't respond, she asked it for him. "I'm sure you didn't come here to tell me what I already know, so what is it that you really want?"

They way he just stood there proved that he was no longer listening to her; she didn't need her powers to know that. Impatiently she crossed her arms in an irritated way. He noticed her change of stance and realized that she was speaking to him, bringing his mind back to the present.

"Oh, I don't really want anything, however, Gypsie's in the practice room; she said you were ready to begin your training?" He didn't wait for a response to his question. He just quickly disappeared down the hallway and into his room.

She reentered her room and placed the book shed been reading back on the proper stack. She then ran off towards the main room. She passed though the room and went without hesitation to the door in the far right corner. She opened the door, just enough to slip past, and hurried through. She stared down the stairwell. They didn't fit the upper half of this place. They could have easily belonged in a medieval castle. They were made of a grayish stone. They wound steeply down the would-be hallway, and no doubt extended past more than two flights. She ran down the stairs quickly, but kept careful tabs on her feet. If she slipped she would be sure to tumble all the way down to the very end of them.

She made it to the bottom and entered the room that followed them. This room betrayed what the rooms on the upper floor didn't. The room looked dismal and the cool draft sent chills down her spine. The wall on the left was lined with machinery. The lights on the keyboards flashed neon colors, but only gave the room a more horrid look. Each machine served a different purpose, and she knew them all. The left wall was mostly lined with maps. Cities, roads, and underground tunnels, no two were the same. At the farthest distance from where she was standing there was a large window. This area was completely underground, so the window wasn't there to let sunlight in.

She walked towards the window. The closer she got the more she could see the door to the left of it. When she reached it she paid no attention to the window she merely slipped through the door.

Inside the door was a large room. The room resembled a large field. There was green grass, dirt, and even trees. In the very center of the field there were three large, thick, round post, practice targets. On the top of the middle target Gypsie sat legs crossed, and eyes closed. Her boots had been placed once again on her feet. She didn't speak when Erika entered the room but she knew that she was there. Erika didn't acknowledge her she just walked in and leaned against the post that she sat atop. She was meditating and it was best not to disturb her.

Although she wasn't looking at her she knew that Gypsie had moved from her position and she now saw her standing in front of her. There was a long silence in which the girls only stared at each other. Erika was the one to break the silence.

"Tell me something. Why do you need me to perform the special technique? Im just wasting your time. You already know how to do it, by now we could already have her and be back."

"You see its much more complicated than that. Sure I can do it, but only on a small scale. I have a lot of powers, but unlike you Im not a specialist in just one. If I tried to revive Terra myself, chances are highly unlikely that I would succeed. However, you are a specialist when it comes to the mind. I'm positive that you can break through and bring her back. Also I have a new trick Id like you to learn."

"A new trick? How, exciting. Let's get to this. The sooner I'm completed, the sooner we can put this plan back into action."

She gave Erika detailed directions on what she was suppose to do. Gypsie had inserted an object that had something like the human mind in the center of the middle practice post. All she had to do was awaken it and that would bring it out. When this technique would be performed for real it would be through stone, but this was her first time trying it. Naturally she had her use something a lot less solid.

Her first attempt proved to be a failure. She'd located the objects mind, but was unable to break through to it. They continued practicing this for several hours. Each time she got closer to reaching her ultimate goal but never actually got all the way there.

This would be her last attempt for the day. She started just like she had the rest of the times. She shut her eyes tightly and focused to find the objects mind. This time she found the energy much faster than the rest of the time shed tried. She sent a quick jolt of her own energy through the connection waves that she made. She then opened her eyes and waited. The target shattered revealing the chip that had been frozen in the wood. She couldn't believe it. It was such a simple technique to perform.

Gypsie watched Erika with a satisfied look now that she knew how to do it they could move on to more solid substances and the new trick she wanted her to learn. She walked over to her side and then spoke. "Well done, now we can move on. That is all we will practice of that technique today, however, your training isn't complete yet."

She understood exactly where she was heading so she interrupted. "So what about the new trick?"

"Yes of course," Her voice was slightly irritated by the fact that she was using her powers constantly now. "Well you know the whole mind trick."

"The one that adds power to whatever youre controlling?" She guessed.

"Yes, that one. It seems very clear that you now posses the power to attempt it." She waited for her response. When she didn't respond she thought nothing of it, just began with the instructions on how this would be performed. She told her that the first object she would attempt it on would be the chip that shed just freed from the target. "Now place your pointer, and middle fingers on the chip, its a lot like the human mind so I think it will give you a good sense of what it will be like when this is performed for real." She paused, waiting for her to follow her instructions. Once she had she began again, "Now you must insert the exact amount of your energy into its central core. Itll take a little while to figure out what the proper amount of your energy is. However, when you have it figure out youll be hard to stop."

She concentrated hard on her energy. She focused it all into her two fingertips and sent a little of it in to the chip. She had put to little in and she knew it, so naturally she tried again. Hours passed and she could never quite get the right amount. Finally Gypsie declared that shed practiced enough for today and was free to go.

A week past and Erika practiced the exact same way every day. She kept at it until she used so much of her power that she could barely stand. She'd moved on to much more solid substances with her first technique and she was becoming quite skilled with the other one. For the second skill she really didn't have anything that she could practice properly on because only three humans lived here. Two of which were already under the mind poisoning.

Today was the day that every thing would change. On the first technique she'd just yesterday begun working with stone. It was thick and was hard to find the energy signal through; just like it would be when she tried it for real. She tightened her mind and found the signal, this time with decent speed. She pushed the quick jolt of her self through the stone and waited. The stone shattered and the chip revealed its self. She couldn't believe it. Everything she practiced for she finally had. That however was not the best thing that happened to her that day.

Gypsie had been watching her from the window of the practice room. She had found her a suitable subject to practice her other skill. A boy had wandered by the entrance of her hideout. She'd taken a power reading and discovered that he had a good potential once in her hands. Erika would practice her controlling skills on him. She entered the room and motioned to her. Once she was by her side she spoke. "I have found something quite interesting."

Erika read her mind and finished her statement for her. "A boy has wondered in to our area and you'd like me to make him one of us."

"Precisely."

She left the room and Gypsie behind, she knew that she would be watched from the monitor. She climbed the stairs that led to the main room. Then she found the door that led to the stairs that would take her to the exit. She climbed them quickly. When the valve as within her reach, she turned it and the large circle door opened.

It'd been a long time since she'd been outside. Shed forgotten how beautiful sunshine was and how it warmed her skin. Right now she couldn't stop to enjoy it she had a job to do. She shut her eyes and tried to find the boy. When she found him he wasn't that far from her. She hurried towards where she'd seen him in her vision. Finally he came into view. He was trying to climb a large mountain. It was very windy so it was very difficult to climb free hand.

The boy struggled as she clutched her head in pain; shed seen something. He was going to fall. She rushed to the foot of the mountain and placed her arms in an outreached position. She looked up and saw his foot miss and him fall from the great height. Before she could blink, he landed with a large thud in her arms. He wore all black and had sandy blond hair. His eyes were brown and were pulled very wide with shock.

He stared at her face with a bewildered expression. He was sure he'd fallen to his death, but here he was alive and in a strange girls arms. She smiled and laughed lightly no doubt amused by his dumb struck look. The he realized that she was speaking to him.

"Are you ok, you fell pretty far?"

He took a moment to comprehend what she said and then responded. "Yeah, I think I'm ok. Good thing you were here or I'm positive that I would have fallen to my death."

She laughed at him again and then sat him back on his feet only for him to discover that she was considerable shorter than him. He just stared at her for a moment while she continued to laugh then he joined her.

"Hey who are you? She spoke through her chuckles."

"My names Collin," He stopped laughing, And to whom do I owe the pleasure of saving me?"

"Erika, tell me something what are you doing around here?"

He considered her question carefully and then he said the only reason that came to his mind. "Looking for adventure."

"You know its pretty dangerous around here, next time you feel you need some where to test youre luck Id find somewhere a little safer." Her tone didn't match the concerned words she'd just spoken, she knew that there wouldn't be a next time. She hadn't noticed that they'd both begun walking as they spoke. She stopped and looked at him a worried expression crossing her face.

"Collin, your face what did you do!"

"Huh? He couldn't feel anything wrong."

"You're bleeding really bad! Hurry, sit down I think I know how to help you!"

He sat down and she knelt in front of him she placed her fingers on his temples just like what she'd practiced and paused for a second to think. There was really nothing wrong with him she'd just used it as her chance to try this. She focus her eyes into his mind, then sent some of her own energy into him and waited for what would follow. She was surprised to find no screaming and that he was still conscious. This technique was suppose to be extremely painful and cause a loss of consciousness, but he just stared at her with a blank expression.


	17. Memories From a Forgotten Past

17. Memories From a Forgotten Past

Slowly life began to return to Collins eyes. He'd sat on the ground motionless for only about five minutes before he returned to his proper state of mind. Erika merely sat by and watched him waiting for the transformation to be complete. She saw the change in his eyes and went over to him. Offering him her hand, she slowly brought him to his feet.

"How do you feel?" She asked politely but the real curiosity was very strong in her voice. This had happened much different then she had expected and didn't know how it affected him.

"Fine, why? Should I feel different?"

"No, do you know who I am, or for that fact where you are?"

"Yeah, youre Erika, and I'm outside." He responded slightly confused by her questions

"That's not what I meant. I mean do you know what this place is, besides outside."

"Nope, not a clue. But if you tell me where I am, then I'll know."

Irritation showed in her eyes as she turned and walked away from him. He noticed this, and placed his hand on her shoulder pulling her back around to face him.

"Sorry, I swear I wont do it ever again. I didn't mean to offend you."

He was very sincere with his apologies. Every part of him showed it, so naturally she easily forgave him. She motioned for him to follow her and he did. They were both silent as they walked. Erika was preoccupied by her thoughts. She didn't know what happened and wasn't sure if the mind poisoning actually worked. Then she thought of something she hadn't asked.

"Hey Collin?"

"Hmm," He sounded like shed pulled him from another thought.

"I was just wondering what you were doing out here?"

"Erika, are you alright?"

"Yeah, Why?"

"Well you're the one who asked me to come here with you, so you shouldn't be asking me why were here. You're the one who wanted to come."

"Oh, I guess I just forgot, sorry. It was perfect, she'd actually done it. Sure she felt sorry that it had to be him, Collin was so nice. It was hard to believe shed actually been able to do it."

Nothing else was said about the matter. So the silence began once again and this time no one bothered to break it. Finally they came to the entrance. She twisted the wheel on top of the valve and it opened to reveal a set of stairs. From the top of them it was easy to see where they led. Quickly, they ran down the stairs, Collin leading. When he came to the end he didn't notice the door and ran right into it. She extended her arms and caught him. Almost as if cued they both began laughing. It echoed loudly in the hallway and hurt her more sensitive ears. After he was placed properly back on his feet, the two of them walked out of the stairway to another door that led to a new stairway.

They walked down them, and through the dismal room. Even though she knew he'd never been here before, she was sure that he knew his way around. He still led, when the entered the practice room. Gypsie was once again seated on one of the practice targets meditating.

Her eyes opened quickly when she noticed the two people enter the room. One of them she knew very well, Erika her apprentice. The other ones mind was very different than she would have expected. If she hadn't opened her eyes to she who it was she would have never known. It was the boy that she'd seen on the monitor, wandering around outside. Something was wrong, she'd watched the monitor until she'd seen her perform the technique then shed stopped. However, the side effects of it were immense pain and usually it resulted in unconsciousness that lasted for an hour or so. It was all wrong he shouldn't be standing here in front of her he should still be knocked out.

"Greetings, how may I help you?" Her words weren't directed at Erika.

"Uh," He wasn't real sure what he needed or why he came down here. Something in his mind had told him the directions and hed just followed them.

"I see then," Although she was still talking to him she had her eyes focused curiously on Erika.

_I'm not real sure how it happened but he seems to have been effected by it without the side effects. _Erika thought not to herself but to Gypsie she also had powers similar to hers, she would hear.

"Well then, I think I will leave you two here I have other matters that I must attend to. Erika practice with him till I come back.." With that she left swiftly, looking back only to give her the instructions for his training.

"Ok then, do you know how to... what I mean is, do you have any experience in self defense?"

"Yeah, we just worked on it yesterday. You know you're kind of out of it today."

"Right," She wasn't quite sure how well she'd done with the whole mind switching, but from what she could tell he had either truly been converted, or he was a very good actor, and that was something she highly doubted. "Ok, well what did we work on yesterday?"

"Umm, I don't remember. Its strange really I remember practicing, but I cant seem to remember what we worked on."

"Ok, well I guess we could just start from the beginning again, if thats alright?"

"Sure,"

They both dropped to their fighting stances, they were extremely similar. It was strange but she knew there was something wrong with hers, like for some reason it should be something different. Immediately she stood strait once more and tried the stance again. It was still wrong. He returned to his normal stand staring at her with complete confusion.

"What are you doing? Is something wrong?"

"No," She could imagine what was wrong with her, so she once again took her awkward fighting stance, with him following soon after. It escaped her noticed when he came at her with his quick speed. He was faster than Red X. That would certainly be useful in the long run. His pace was so quick that he was mostly a blur when he ran, and she couldn't even detect what he was going to do in his mind. Next thing she new her face was slammed hard into the ground. The smell of grass filled her nose and chalky dirt filled her mouth. Quickly she spit it out and was on her feet again. She couldn't see Collin anywhere. Without thinking she placed her index fingers on her temples, still nothing. She couldn't trace him anywhere either. Moments passed and finally she got what she knew was coming. This time he hit her head on and sent her flying into one of the tree trunks head first. His potential on the team was very high. Strong and fast, both would be very helpful.

This time she found it much more difficult to stand back up. Her head pounded and her ears were ringing. Her vision was very blurred and everything that should have been stationary was spinning. He noticed her difficulties and went to her side. Slowly, as she eased herself to her feet she saw Collin appear beside her concern vivid in his eyes. That was the first time and hopefully the last time he would make that mistake. Even though it was hard she managed to gain control of his body. He could no longer move.

"That would be mistake number one." Her tone was confident, completely free of any compassion. "Never lower your defenses, even during practice."

Immense pressure pushed down on his body. He felt like he was about to be crushed flat. Yet no matter how he struggled he couldn't break free. A light smirk played across her lips as she approached him. After he saw that, he knew that there would be consequences for his mistake. As if in slow motion, she shoved her foot hard into his chest. The blow didn't only send him strait back, but made him airborne. When he should of come crashing down he felt her knee slam into his back sending him the other way. He slid across the ground face first. Gaining slight control of his body, he spit out mouthfuls of dirt as her rolled over on to his back. Next thing he knew he lost control of himself again and she sat gracefully on his chest.

The one thing he discovered he still had control of his was his eyes. He moved them to look at her. She sat contently on top of him grinning at her accomplishments. For a moment they just stared at each other. He really had something to ask her but at the moment she was in control of what he could do. Realizing what he wanted she release his mouth, still hold his body completely in her powers.

"So Im guessing the lesson is to be a cold hearted killer?" He said lightly with a slight laugh in his tone.

"Not quite," The same laugh was very clear when she spoke too. "The lesson is to keep your defenses up even if the enemy is a friend. I figured that you would've already known that, but apparently you needed to learn it the hard way. Youre a good fighter, strong and fast. But you need to learn that not everyone is as trusting as they lead on. Once you learn that I think youll be ok."

"Will it be hard?"

"That depends on how well you learn from your mistakes."

"Very well,"

"Then you should never make that one again, easy as that."

"Enough about my fighting skills, I'd like to know when you became so good at acting." He said changing the topic, "You seemed practically helpless when you hit the tree."

"That wasn't acting, that was called trying to attack when you feel drunk." Her comment made both of them laugh. Minutes past as they continued to be carefree, she couldn't remember a time when she'd been so free of pressure. Suddenly she fell off him on to her back. Her index fingers placed tightly to her temples and her eyes shut. Images flashed through her mind. They were of people, super powered teens much like her. She knew them, yet she couldn't place names to them. It was memories from her past, a past that she couldn't seem to remember. Because of the images she'd released him from her control. He now knelled over her trying to bring her back to the present.

Gypsie appeared to his side, staring down at her. She searched through her mind but only found what she was afraid of. She had become capable of breaking through the mind control. She scooped her up into her arms and carried her out of the practice room. When she reached the top of the stairs she opened the door and carefully glided down the hallway that led to her room. Once inside, she placed her in her own bed and quickly trying to avoid Collins notice she placed her fingers on the girls temples and sent some of her own energy in to her strengthening her control of her. She nodded to him as she left and then Collin was alone with her once more.

Cautiously he walked to the side of her bed. Her face was glazed over with sweat, and her fists were clenched tightly at her side. For being unconscious she looked rather uncomfortable. Moments passed as he stood beside her bed. Breaking the tension he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to find Red X.

"Come, she will be alright, she just needs rest." His words were comforting to the boy and he turned and followed him out.

Many days had past since Erikas vision. She still saw them, but she couldn't place the people or the memories and it was no longer painful. Red X was seated to the left her in a big blue chair identical to the one she was sitting in. To her right was Collin. He sat in a blue chair as well. He was dazed not truly paying attention to what was happening. Across from her sat Gypsie. She smoothed out the paper, which contained their mission information, on the table in the center of them all. Tomorrow would be the day in which all their plans would be carried out. It'd taken much longer than anyone expected, but they finally made it. She explained exactly how it would happen.

"Now then, once we are there, Erika youll free Terra. Red X, Collin you will both stand watch we dont need any unexpected guests. And I... well lets just say that I'll do what I have to do then well come back here. I'm told that Terra is strong, but she'll need training."

Erika then took over the speaking. "After we have Terra our goal is the Teen Titans. They must be destroyed in order to take over the city. That will be our main objective. If they're still around we stand no chance."

Then Gypsie took over again. "Are we clear on what we are supposed to do? This must go right or else you will all pay for it. Do I make myself clear?" It wasn't really a question they had no choice in the matter. "Good, well then tomorrow the fun begins!" 


	18. Not Meant to Be

18. Not Meant to Be

Robin stood on the roof of Titans Tower watching the sunrise. It was beautiful but he would much rather be with her right now instead of all by himself. Shed been gone for about two weeks now and he was pretty sure she wasn't coming back. The time he spent with her he had enjoyed very much and he thought she had too, but apparently he'd just been fooling himself. Raven had been kind of right about her. He was sure that she was wrong about the being evil part, but she had been right about her being very good at pretending. It still was very hard for him to believe that she would just leave, but from what Raven had told her this seemed to be her thing. He spent every morning just the same as this one. Staring off into the city for any sign that she had returned, but just the same as the rest of the mornings there was still no sign of her. Depressed he went back down in to the tower. Raven met him at the bottom of the stairs. Carefully she placed her hands on his shoulders and stared into his eyes. They stung deep with depression. This was much worse than she had expected. She knew that he'd been hurt by her disappearance, but it never occurred to her how bad it actually was. She took on a bold look and then spoke.

"Robin, I know she hurt you, but please try to move on. I know thats not really your thing, but its hard to see you like this. And not just for me, but for everyone. Were worried about you; you're not yourself any more."

His only response was to turn his eyes away from hers. This was his way of dealing with it. He knew that he didn't have a chance of ever seeing her again, but he couldn't ever make himself stop hoping. She saw his reaction and knew that there would be no more said about it. Removing her hands she spoke quickly while turning around, "It's not my business, I know, just please consider what I'm saying." Once again Robin was alone.

Erika clung tightly to Collins back as he ran. She was fast, but no where near as fast as everyone else so he'd agreed to carry her to make better timing. They'd been running for about an hour and a half, soon they would arrive at the city. Gypsie was to the left of him and to his right was Red X. Collin was the only one who'd never been to the city, even though he was the fastest he couldn't run ahead.

Although it'd been awhile she just couldn't become accustomed to his speed. Every bump and change of direction made her stomach turn. The city was within seeing distance now. She saw the outline of all the buildings. In the center of the city there was a large T shaped tower. Once again she began to see flashes of images through her mind. They weren't painful at all so they didn't bother her. She saw the tower in them, she knew that she'd been there before, but just like her earlier visions she couldn't place what it was or when she'd been there.

"Now remember once we enter the city we must slow our pace we can't have anyone notice us. If they do our plans are sure to fail." Gypsies instructions were very clear. Every one knew that even if an ordinary person spotted them their mission would be jeopardized.

"Collin, once we get into the city, well be traveling at a normal pace I think I can walk."

"Yeah wed probably look pretty funny and would draw attention to ourselves."

They entered the city and Erika climbed carefully off Collins back. She set her feet on the ground and fell the minute she put all of her weight back on her own body. Everything spun and she wasn't sure why; she knew that the speed had bothered her, but not enough to cause her to become dizzy. This had happened once before in her life; something was about to happen and she was sure that it would be bad.

"Erika, get off the ground we don't have time for this. Do you want to ruin our whole plan." Gypsie's voice was very angry. She couldn't have her messing around at a time like this every second was vital.

Collin helped her back to her feet and they hurried through the city. They kept to back roads and alleys it would be the easiest way to be certain that no one would see them. They made it to the cave with out any problems. They actually hadn't seem any people, in fact the only living thing they saw was a rat with an eerie glow to its fur, but like a rat could cause them any problems.

As soon as the people had passed the rat hurried out off the alley and onto the street. Making sure no one was around the rat changed. It was no longer a small furry creature it'd changed into a bird and flew off in the direction of Titans Tower. It flew quickly and the minute it made it to the Tower it transformed once again, this time to a person. Beast Boy ran into the Tower and hurried to the living space where he found Raven meditating, usually he wouldn't bother her but this was important.

"Raven, Raven," he practically shouted, "Where's Robin, this is really important!"

"In his room, why?" But he hadn't heard the last part he'd already dashed off towards Robins room.

Halfway to his room he ran into Robin knocking them both to the ground.

"Hey Beast Boy watch where you're going. Where are you in such a hurry to?"

He didn't slow down when he spoke. "To find you, Robin you'll never guess who I found." He didn't wait for him to answer he just continued talking. "Erika, I saw her I was on the west-side of town. She was with a couple other people but I didn't get a good look at who they were, they were all heading towards Terra."

It took a moment for everything he said to register in Robins mind, but once it did he got up quickly and hurried out of the Tower. He grabbed the R-cycle and rode off. He couldn't believe how his luck was changing. Erika was back and he hoped to convince her to come back to the Titans.

Red X and Collin stood in the entrance to the cave watching to make sure no one was coming near them while Gypsie and Erika stood in Terra's chamber. Erika stood with her eyes closed, focusing her power, and searching for the girls mind. The rock was thick and she just couldn't seem to find it. Perhaps she'd been frozen here too long and there was no signal for her to trace, but Gypsie wouldn't let her give up so easily. Many minutes of staining her powers later, she found it. She focused all of her power to her mind and sent some of it toward the signal. When it was completed she opened her eyes, but nothing had changed. Terra still stood frozen in stone in front of her, it hadn't worked. Gypsie walked to her side and grabbed her by the front of her cloak.

"You have been very helpful to me so far, but if you don't get this right I swear you will not live to see outside of this cave ever again."

At that moment the statue of Terra began shaking. Gypsie quickly dropped her and ran to the girls side. The rock shattered and Terra fell from the platform. Gypsie caught her before she hit the ground. The blonde girl stared at her in shock and then spoke.

"Who, who are you, where am I?"

She didn't answer her she just looked at Erika. Walking over to Terra she placed her fingers to Terra's temples. She then performed the technique shed performed on Collin. Just like when Colin had changed Terra made no sound her eyes just went blank and she fell limply into Gypsies arms once again. At that moment Red X and Collin rushed into the room.

"Gypsie, theres someone coming, what do we do?"

She placed her fingers on the sides of her forehead.

"It's Robin, one of the Teen Titans. Erika stay here and handle him, the rest of you, follow me."

Collin picked up the girl and they all ran out the back of the hideout. Erika on the other hand walked to the room before the one in which Terra had once been.

The room was very dark and it was hard to see. The only light was from what seemed to be a window that glowed orange from the lava on the other side of it. Once her eyes focused she saw the boy standing in the middle of the room. She saw visions of her past, but unlike the many other times it had happened before she knew exactly what everything was. Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg, and most importantly Robin, she remembered them all. She ran quickly to face Robin; he was in danger and she didn't know how long it would be until Gypsie returned to finish him off.

"Robin, what are you doing here?" Even though she tried not to her voice was anxious and full of worry she just couldn't keep her mind off what would happen when she returned.

"Looking for you. Ive been worried, why did you leave."

She completely ignored his question and continued down her list of priority questions. "How did you find me; who told you I was here?"

"Beast Boy saw you, but you're dodging my question why did you leave."

"We don't have time for your question, its not relevant. You-"

"Erika, just answer it. I wont ask anymore, I just need to know."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I left because I'm a hazard to you all. I was putting you in danger and I couldn't live if I hurt my friends. Now Ive answered your question so shut up and listen to me. You need to leave and as much as it hurts me, I cant come with you. I couldn't survive if I knew I was responsible for your death."

"I've spent the last two weeks looking for you why would I leave once I've finally found you again."

"Do you care nothing for your own life? If you stay you'll die."

"I'm not afraid off dying; if I was I wouldn't be a super hero."

He placed his hands around her shoulders and she couldn't remember why she wanted him to leave. Even if his life was endanger at this very moment, with his hands on her shoulders she could really care less. His leaving wouldn't make her happy and she finally had happiness. Taking a couple steps closer to him she pushed to her tiptoes until she stood at about his height. She continued to lean closer to him until their faces were only millimeters away. Thats when her conscience kicked in. She turned her face away from his.

"Oh this is so wrong." She groaned as the happiness she had felt subsided.

"Erika, whats wrong."

At that moment the rest of the Titans appeared behind Robin. They were all in defensive positions, they knew something bad was about to happen.

"Robin, somethings not right here." Ravens voice was shaky; even she was a little frightened.

"Good job Erika, I thought you'd betrayed us, but it seems you've drawn out the whole Titan army." Gypsies voice was very confident, in a few minutes all that would be left of the Titans would be dead bodies.

The Titans all looked very shocked and she turned to see what had surprised them. Behind her she saw not the three people she had expected, but four. Red X, Gypsie, Collin, and Terra all stood behind her.

"Come my child, join your team and well destroy the Titans!"


	19. Sacrifice

19. Sacrifice

Erika stood in between the two groups of people. She wasn't sure where she wanted to be. She liked the Titans, and if she fought on their side that meant she got to stay with Robin; that's what she really wanted right now. However, none of them stood a chance against Gypsie. She had so many powers and she could read their thoughts. Staying with the Titans would mean certain death and she didn't want that either. She debated for several minutes on what to do. All eyes were on her, they all wanted to know where her loyalties really lied.

"Come on Erika, We can beat her if you help us." Robin's voice was desperate he really didn't want to believe she was the villain. "Please Erika; I know you're not that kind of person."

She stared into his eyes. How she longed to go to him. To show him that she really was who he thought she was, but unlike him she was afraid of death. Just the thought scared her, and if she stayed with him she would have no future but that one.

"I'm sorry, but I must do what is best for me."

With that she turned and walked to Gypsie's side and looked back at Robin. His expression was torn. It was easy to see he couldn't understand why she would choose this path, but this way insured that she would continue to live even if it meant a few of the Titans would die. She didn't want to kill them, but so long as it wasn't Robin who died in her hands she figured she could survive. Besides her and Raven had a rocky past, she was certain she could kill her without any regrets.

"You seem shocked by her choice, but why? You seem to…know her better than anyone else; wouldn't she tell you who she really was?

"Well I see that wasn't the case, so allow me the honors of introducing you to my apprentice. Erika's a very tricky person, one of many different personalities; that's why it's so hard to read her. Even for me I never can know what she's really thinking. See even though it's hard to trust her she makes the best spy. She has no problem pretending and doesn't feel guilty. She's quite the actress, had you fooled even to this point today. From the very first day you met her she was working for me. We're connected in a way and she would tell me everything about you. Have you ever wondered how Red X got his weapons back? I'm sure you thought someone had broken into the tower. However that wasn't the case. Erika took it and brought it to me. She deceived you all.

"I've only ever had one complication with her. She's the perfect weapon, however lately I've found her to be very distracted. When I took her back, I tried to keep her away. I tried to keep her mind busy so she had no chance to accidentally go back there, but I couldn't seem to. I found her breaking past all barriers and even though she didn't know who you were she continued to be distracted by it. Well now it seems she's no longer distracted, and I finally have a chance to destroy her distraction."

She stared at Robin until she was sure he understood, finally it clicked in. He was the distraction. Moving closer to him her face was still calculating, she was obviously thinking about the quickest way to destroy him. Even though he was scared and wanted to run away he couldn't, he was frozen. After several more steps she stopped and her face took on a different expression.

"I've got a better idea, truly the best way to destroy you." She turned and faced Erika giving her instructions in her mind. "_My child it is time to prove that you are truly a worthy apprentice and will not become a traitor. Annihilate him and you will stay at my side, however should you choose not to, you will be destroyed along with the Titans!"  
_  
_  
_  
This just wasn't working out the way she had wanted it to. She had planned to leave the destruction of Robin to one of her comrades. She was certain she could handle one of them doing it, but now it was her responsibility.

"_Of course why would I disappoint you."  
_  
_  
_  
_"Well then do it!"  
_  
_  
_  
Erika ran at Robin and slid her foot into his shins knocking him to the ground. Gypsie only watched the battle for a few more minutes then she turned taking one of the other Titans off her teammate's hands. This would be a battle unlike any of the ones the Titans had experienced before. These villains were trained to kill without a second thought or regret. They wouldn't think back upon there choices or think what they were going to do. They were killing machines simple as that.

As Robin pulled himself off the ground he continued to try to get through to Erika. This wasn't the girl he knew, something was driving her to act like this and he wanted to find out what it was and bring back the girl he'd known those few months.

"Erika, why are you doing this? I know this isn't who you are, please, why do you listen to her!"

Even as she answered she continued to attack him. Every attack was hard for her, but she concentrated on what she had been taught, to kill any feelings she had and destroy her opponent. "Apparently you didn't know me very well. If you did you would have realized from the moment you met me that there was something wrong with me. The only person who knew me was Raven, and she told you all along that I was evil. She was right I just had you fooled."

He dodged a kick that would've hit him square in his chest, however he continued talking, he wasn't giving up that easily. "So you were evil, you're not now. Unlike the rest of them you don't seem to have the same blood lust. If you did I would be in the same condition as the rest of my team, practically defeated."

He was right she didn't have the same motive as her comrades; it'd be very unlikely for her to just simply kill him. In fact it was probably quite impossible. Gypsie over heard her thoughts and focused her attention to Robin and Erika. What they both had been thinking was true. Erika did not posses the blood lust it would require for her to betray Robin and kill him. On the other hand however, Erika was the strongest out of all of them. Her half trying at fighting was about equal to the rest of the team's 100. Robin was enduring quite well. He would make a nice addition to the team.

_"Erika, I see you're very much apposed to killing this boy. I've got another choice for you, make him one of us. Then he doesn't have to die and I will have what I want, a very strong team."_ She didn't speak out loud he words were heard softly in Erika's mind.

This was a choice she could handle. It was a way out of killing him if this worked she could have everything she wanted. She wouldn't have to worry about Gypsie killing her and she could stay with Robin, she would win on both accounts. When she came within 20 feet of him she threw her fingers quickly to her temples and focused her powers. When Robin tried to move to dodge the attack he knew would be coming at him, he found that he couldn't. She continued to come at him, but no longer at a running pace.

Once she had reached him she didn't let go of her control on him. However she loosened it slightly and pushed him until he lay on the ground just like Collin had when she'd preformed this ability of hers on him.

"Now that you're just laying there listen to me. It would seem that you understand that I don't posses the proper thought process to kill. That you are wrong on, killing any one of your comrades would be quite simple for me; I just seem to be having difficulty setting my mind to kill you. However, you're not attacking me either so that would lead me to believe that you don't, as I don't, posses the proper thought process to kill me either. Now then I have a way to solve both your problem and mine. Gypsie sees you as a possible teammate, which would mean that so long as you agree to turn your back on friends and fight along side us you will be free to live. So what do you say, will you be my partner?"

"Erika, I've told you this before, I'm not afraid of dying. If I was I wouldn't be a superhero. Another thing, I'm not like you I won't betray my friends. I'm sorry but your offer isn't something I can accept."

Thinking about what Robin had said she released him from the bindings she had created. He stood up and looked into her eyes, still finding it hard to believe that this girl was evil. At this moment she looked very vulnerable, but it didn't last long she hardened her expression and returned to her fighting stance.

Collin fought against the cyborg and both of them were just about at the end of their strength. Collin was gifted with speed, but the cyborg had great weapon power. Even if he couldn't see him he could still target and attack him. Sweat ran down Collin's face. He'd never actually been in a real battle, only practice ones with Erika. She pretended to be tough during their practice, but that was nothing compared to this. If he messed up now the consequences would be much more severe than the ones she had dealt him.

Gypsie had Raven pined down on the ground. Raven's powers were very similar to hers and Erika's, but Gypsie's mind reading had given her and extra advantage. She knew every move she planned to make and when she was going to do it. There was just no surprising her. She slammed the palm of her hand in to Raven's temple and she lost consciousness. Gypsie knew she wasn't dead, but still left her lying on the ground where she had knocked her out and went to aid Terra. As the newest member she hadn't had proper training yet and was having a hard time holding her own against Starfire.

Erika was evenly matched by Robin. In reality he was a very strong fighter, and his potential power was very close to her own. He was her toughest opponent ever. As there was a short break in attacks she looked around the room at her comrades; all their battles were going well. Gypsie had knocked Raven out and was currently helping Terra with Starfire. Terra was new so this type of difficulty in fighting was very much expected. Red X had Beast Boy cornered and would soon be finishing him off. Quite frankly her battle was the only one that seemed to be difficult. Hopefully if she dragged it out long enough her friend would finish their battles and come help her. They could finish Robin off and she wouldn't have to feel guilty. That was a good plan and would probably work.

She turned her attention back to Robin. He seemed to be doing the same thing she was at the moment, analyzing his surroundings. He saw that his friends were having no luck; soon there would be nothing left of them.

"I see you realize that you guys stand no chance against us so why not join us?"

"Again, it's not going to happen. I'd much rather die fighting beside my friends as to becoming a traitor!"

Only minutes after he'd spoken Gypsie appeared at her side; although she didn't attack him, he could sense that something bad was about to happen. Then a loud bang made every one turn to look in the corner where Cyborg and Collin had been. When the dust cleared they all saw Cyborg slammed against a wall. Raven standing in front of Collin. And Collin was lying in a heap on the floor.

Raven couldn't remember what had possessed her to do this. She'd only woken to see Cyborg just about to be finished off. As quick as she could she'd thrown him out of the way and attack the boy. She'd seen the light fade from his eyes; he was most certainly dead.

Erika'd seen the way way Collin looked many times before. She didn't want to believe it, so she checked his body for mind actions, nothing. He was gone, although it saddened her she really didn't seem to care as much as she would have thought she would. But this didn't really matter either she also knew something bad was about to happen.

"Well it would seem that I have lost one of my teammates, no matter though his loss truly means nothing. Now then let me see, it would seem that my problem is not being taken care of. That will mean that I must fix it myself. Have you ever wondered why she fears me so much?" As she spoke she pointed to Erika. All the Titans now surrounded them, ready to attack. "Well let me show you. It is truly terrible, as you can imagine not much scares her." She had brought a rock up and held it in her hand. It had at first burst into red and orange flames, it had changed into a blue lightning. "Now then Robin, it would seem this would be the end of you!"

She charged at Robin making the rock and the lightning storm in her hand larger. She was so quick the Titans didn't have a chance to move.

"No!"

Robin slid across the ground away from her attack, he wasn't sure what had happened, but whoever had called out had been right beside him. He opened his eyes to find someone else standing where he would have been if he hadn't been shoved out of the way. A sharp rock dagger was shoved in her chest where her heart was. Her thick blood spilled out in large pools on to the ground. It took him a moment to realize who was standing in his place, due to the blood that covered her body. It was the only person who'd been able to match Gypsie's speed, Erika.

Realizing that it was not Robin who stood in front of her she tossed the corps of her apprentice away from where Robin was, pulling the sharp rock from her chest. As she walk towards Robin she noticed that Red X was gone, because Erika had been killed Terra now stood with the Titans sou rounding her, no longer under mind control. The Titans closed in on her. She was alone and outnumbered, she had no chance. In a large cloud of dust she disappeared from the battle.

All the Titans ran to Robin, but as soon as he was on his feet he shoved them out of the way and ran to Erika's body. He threw himself down on his knees and brushed her hair away from her face.

"Erika, no talk to me!" His voice was frantic. He didn't want to admit she was gone. "Please," He felt something slip down his face ands put his hand up to wipe it away. It was water, this was the first time he'd even thought about crying in a very long time. He didn't want to cry in front of his friends so he tried to hold it in. He ran his fingers through her dark hair as he realized something, and a weak half smile fell upon his face. "You never meant to kill me did you? Even as you swore that you would, you couldn't.." He spoke to her dead body still stroking her hair. you"You were never truly evil, like I said I know you better than you ever thought." He voice broke several times as he spoke. As hard as he tried he couldn't seem to hold back his tears a few of them always slipped through.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to find Raven standing above him. He face was not cold and expressionless like usual; it actually showed compassion for him, something he never thought he'd see.

She spoke to him, her voice was soft and gentle. "It's ok Robin, you don't need to hold in your feelings because of us."

He weakly smiled once again. He crossed his arms and threw them down on her chest burring his head in them and let go of all of the tears he'd been trying to hide.

"Why Erika, why did you choose now to fight by my side!"


	20. Epilouge: Final Farewell

Epilogue: Final Farewell

Small rays of sunshine broke through the dark, gray clouds. The air was cold for this time of year and a chilling breeze blew through the already cold air. Robin knelt on the ground staring at the small, gray head stone that was in front of him. Sometimes he reached out and touched the stone, running his hand down the rough texture of the rock.

It had been six months since her death and he had only just began to heal. He came to her grave at least once a week to talk to her, even though her friends told him that coming here all the time wasn't healthy, it made him more complete. If he talked to her he was certain he wouldn't fall apart. Although his friends tried to understand, they couldn't. They could never truly grasp what he was going through.

There was one, however, who came close to knowing his pain. She was able to sympathize with him, and help when he thought the grief would become unbearable. Terra had been saved by Erika, and was grateful for her no matter what the reason was that had led her to do it. She was always ready to give him encouraging words. Ones he knew would someday pay off and he would be able to return from the state he was currently in.

The sun finally broke through the clouds all the way, leaving the sky where they had once been an amazing shade of blue. When the warm sun touched his face he couldn't help but smile. This gesture seemed almost foreign to him. It's been a long time since he'd felt well enough to smile.

"You don't like to see me this way do you? You'd never let me be like this if you were still around, but you're not. You know you're not the only one who wants me to change. All of our friends want me to move on as well. I'm weak now, vulnerable. I just can't get past it."

He knew exactly what she'd be saying in response to his previous comment. She'd would've argued with him until he'd realized how easy his weakness was to overcome, and that he'd been foolish for ever letting it get in his way.

With another weak smile he picked himself off the ground and spoke to her once more. "I know, I'm a foolish person. I shouldn't let it bother me; it'll only make problems worse."

He returned to the R-cycle and after one final look back at her grave, he took off for Titans Tower.

He entered the tower to find Beast Boy and Terra sitting on the couch playing video games. They played Cyborgs knew racing game. He'd only got it a couple of days ago and both of them were already determined to beat his high score. Both of them were enjoying themselves, laughing loudly as they raced towards the finish line trying to run each other off the track. He knew that if Terra heard him she'd stop playing and come to talk to him. He didn't want her to have to give up all of her time just because he wasn't stable at the moment. So he tried to be as quite as he possibly could, but the doors always shut loudly.

She heard the closing door and looked to find Robin trying to sneak past her. She quickly paused the game.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Beast Boy asked the minute the game paused screen appeared.

"It's Robin. Hold on, I'll be right back."

She got up off the couch and followed Robin into his room, shutting the door behind her.

"Hey Robin, did you have fun."

"Yeah, something like that."

"Hm, I see, well are you doing better?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"That's good, everyone-"

"You know Terra you don't have to do this."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, not doing what you want just to make sure I'm ok. I don't-"

"I am doing what I want. I'm your friend, I want to help you. Every one wants to help you it's just that no one knows how.

"Robin, Erika saved me. I'm in her debt no matter how evil she was. And I think the only way to repay her is to help you become the person you used to be. The one she knew."

She looked at him again and noticed he was crying. Then she placed her hand to her face and realized that she was crying as well. She wrapped her arms around him and they embraced for a few minutes. After they released each other, they wiped away their tears lightly laughing the whole time.

"Look at us, we can be so pathetic sometimes." He said through his unnatural laugh.

"Yeah, oh! I almost forgot. Here, I found this in my room." She handed him the envelope she'd pulled from her pocket. "I found it in one of my desk drawers. It was addressed to you so I didn't read it."

He examined the envelope. The front was blank, but the back of it had his name scribbled on it, in hand writing he was certain he'd seen before. He carefully tore the envelope open and unfolded the paper. The paper had the same kind of handwriting on it. He then realized that he'd seen this handwriting so many times before. He now knew who the letter was from and he slowly began to read it.

Robin,

This is probably something you don't want to hear, but I'm afraid that you need to. I'm not who you think I am, not even close. Day after day I have lied to you and for that I'm truly sorry. I'm not here to help you with Terra, I'm actually here to take her for my own gain. I am, in fact, an apprentice to a girl who wished to destroy you. I know you will judge me harshly on this matter, but please hear the rest of what I have to say. I am a lier and a killer, but I could never kill any of you. In fact I won't. I promise you this, I will never kill you for I am not able, and I will never allow any of my comrades to kill you either. I will take your place in death myself before I even consider breaking this promise. I love you Robin and for that I'll face my biggest fear. Judge me as you will, but I am sorry for everything I have done to you. Forgive me one day for all the trouble I have caused.

Love,

Erika


End file.
